


Navigate Familiar Roads

by padfootprophet



Category: DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Titans (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Capes, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Snow, the fab five love and support each other, winter activities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21934165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padfootprophet/pseuds/padfootprophet
Summary: Wally heads back to his home town and his best friends and his hopeless crush for the winter break.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Donna Troy (background)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 183





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I guess this is a Christmas fic but only in terms of it being set around Christmas time, mostly I just love winter. It is heavily based on the fact that I listen to Christmas at 22 by The Wonder Years about twenty times a day and that's where I stole the title from.

The snow had started three days before Wally's flight was diverted. _The blizzard of the century_. Wally thought calling it such when the century was barely old enough to be more than a bratty kid was cheating. Still, it had forced Barry to drive an extra five hours to pick him up at a different airport so he would concede that the weather was pretty awful.

Of course, by the time he'd gotten back to Barry and Iris' and taken an excessively long nap it wasn't snowing anymore. The clouds overhead still hung heavy with the threat of more but the blizzard itself was apparently over.

Or at least over enough that it wasn't hard for Wally to persuade Barry to let him take Flash and head to the diner. Not that he thought Barry would stop him; Flash was his after all - a gift granted for getting his licence or maybe for maintaining good grades, an old red pick-up that had been Barry's first, and even he'd gotten her second hand - she was reliable, and could certainly handle the snow better than Dick's motorcycle.

Flash rolled over the snow of the mostly empty parking lot at the diner, and Wally could feel it shift and compress under her weight with soft creaks as he found something that vaguely resembled a space. The blanket of white crunched satisfyingly under his boots as he dropped from the driver's seat onto the ground below, stuffing his hands into his coat pocket before carefully tramping across the snow.

The sign over the entrance picked out the words _Speedy's Diner_ in an italic font of red neon. "Speedy service guaranteed," Wally sung under his breath with a smile. It was a radio jingle for the local station and on most days an outright lie.

But Speedy's was also where Roy Harper worked, was working today if the red Honda pulled up close to the entrance was anything to go by, or the text Garth had sent him requesting they meet there.

Wally pulled open the diner door and attempted to knock some of the gathered snow off his boots as he let the blast of warm air from the vent above the entryway ruffle his hair and bring his nose back above Jack Frost nipped temperatures.

The diner itself was something of an institution, and like all good institutions hadn't changed in several decades. The vinyl seating was too worn to be catalogue-perfect retro, the table tops were stained with years and years of coffee spills, and the flyers and posters hanging on the walls were pasted on permanently - a monument to the town history and advertisements of extinct brands only lost when they were covered over or faded beyond recognition by sunlight.

The string of Christmas lights and shining red decorations hung from the ceiling were just as old and worn looking, a few dead bulbs, a few loose pieces of red film. They were probably newer than the furniture - by virtue of the cheap and disposable nature of most Christmas decorations - but only just.

Garth and Roy were easy enough to pick out, the former a cutting figure even in a crowd - all romance-novel rippling muscles - sat at the counter and the latter on the other side in the trademark brilliant red apron of Speedy's Diner that clashed so terribly with his hair.

Wally weaved between the few occupied tables, passing the only other employee on the floor with a, "Hi, Mia." He was, predictably, ignored. Mia had hated him since the summer he'd accidentally kicked a soccer ball into her face. He'd been aiming at Bart, playing goalie between their bundled up jackets, and had hooked the ball right at Mia. He wasn't sure what the worse sin was in her eyes: that he had injured her badly enough to make her nose bleed, or that the pain had been enough to make her cry and he'd borne witness to the moment of weakness. The fact that he still thought she was tougher than him - because there was no way Mia cried at overly cutesy Christmas commercials - didn't seem to matter.

Either Roy heard his greeting - and Mia ignoring him - over _Fairy Tale of New York_ pouring from the speakers set high on the diner walls or he had been watching out for their group because his eyes snapped to Wally, halfway across the diner floor and he smiled.

"Well look who's back in town," he said, voice loud enough to carry the distance between them. Garth twisted in his stool and waved in Wally's direction. "If only someone had warned us. Repeatedly." He shook his head with a chuckle, although Wally was at a loss as to why.

"I'm pretty sure I only mentioned it once, to make sure you'd all be here," he said, tossing an arm around Garth's shoulders and squeezing him into a half-hug.

"Yeah," Garth said, lifting an arm around Wally in return and pulling him down for something more solid. "He's not talking about you."

Roy answered Wally's question before he could ask it. "Dick's been counting down the days. I'm fairly sure your return is circled on his calendar and surrounded by little hearts."

Wally blushed, dropping into the stool next to Garth and pulling off his coat, blaming the heat in his cheeks on the contrast of the warmth in the diner to the cold of the snow covered town and _not_ the idea that Dick had missed him as much as he'd missed Dick. It probably wasn't true anyway; after all, Dick was conspicuously absent.

"Where are our wonders?" he asked, once Roy had turned his attention to the coffee machine set at the back wall of the diner rather than looking knowingly in Wally's direction.

Garth shrugged. "Probably on a date." Wally choked on air as Roy nearly dropped the jug he was frothing milk in - the metal clanging against the coffee machine's drip tray. Garth snorted with laughter. "I'm _kidding_. You two are entirely too obvious."

Roy set down the jug a little too firmly on the back counter, and it rang briefly against the fake marble as he found a coffee cup. "We can't all leave a string of broken hearts across college campus," he muttered.

"I'm hardly-" Garth cut himself off with a quick, sharp sigh. "You're not going to get anywhere if you don't actually ask her out. That's all I'm saying."

Roy was seemingly content to ignore Garth's advice, although the glimpse Wally caught of his profile showed him frowning as he filled the cup: coffee, syrup, frothed milk, topped off with a snow of chocolate powder. He set it in front of Wally without the frown lifting. "Garth can pay," he said.

"Roy…" Garth started; it didn't sound like a protest to the buying-Wally-a-mocha part, which was good because he was fairly sure he'd forgotten his wallet.

Roy sighed. "I don't know what you think will happen," he said, "Donna is amazing, and she's going to outgrow this place and do something world changing. The most I'm ever going to achieve is not burning coffee in a diner in the ass end of nowhere."

Wally frowned at the cup in front of him, trying to ignore the churning feeling that he could relate. There was a reason Dick and Donna had earned the nicknames of boy and girl wonder, bright and brilliant just by their existence. He sipped at the coffee: sweet, rich, and unburned.

"I just think your odds are better than you think," Garth said. Wally looked over to find Garth had directed that last part at him as much as Roy, possibly sensing his turmoil in his quiet.

"What odds?" a voice asked from behind them, before a pair of arms were draped around Wally's shoulders and Dick leant into his line of vision. "Also, hey." He was smiling wide, blue eyes shining and inches from his own.

"Dick!" Wally put his cup down too quickly, and some of the coffee spilled over the rim, adding to the mottled stains on the countertop. It was far from nonchalant, and probably as obvious as Garth had suggested.

Dick just laughed, arms dropping and one hand instead wrapping around Wally's bicep and pulling him from the stool and into a full bodied hug. "I've missed you," he said, words buried in the shoulder of Wally's shirt. Wally couldn't fight the blush at the words, or Dick's closeness, and held him tightly in response, hiding his own red face in the lapels of Dick's coat.

"Missed you too," he said.

Dick pulled away all too soon, sitting heavily in the stool on the other side of Wally's and unbuttoning his coat as he looked across at Garth. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

Wally glanced at Garth in a brief moment of worry, but the rising panic was washed away when he said, "Roy's chances of getting laid before New Year's." Wally sank back into his seat, grabbing a napkin to dab at the spilled coffee.

"Well they'd be higher if he actually made a move," Dick said, eyes flicking to meet Wally's own, something passing through them and then gone just as quick, his attention shifting fully to Roy. "And even higher if Donna was actually here."

Roy stared at Dick with narrowed eyes, shifted his glare to Wally and then Garth in quick succession - although Wally wasn't entirely sure he deserved to be caught up in that ire. "Whatever," he said, folding his arms across himself and leaning against the back counter. "You know where she is?"

Wally was fairly sure he'd adopted the same attempted-casual posture before, if not the same flat tone, when asking about Dick.

Dick shrugged. "She _was_ going to take pictures of the snow, before it gets churned up and we forget it ever happened. If she hasn't made it here I assume she's still out there." He twisted sideways in his seat, one arm resting on the counter, and kicked his feet against the bar at the bottom of Wally's stool. Their ankles knocked together, Dick's combat boots catching against the edge of Wally's hikers. "You want to go and find her?" he asked.

Wally didn't take much time to consider. "Sure, it's really not the same without everyone. You want to take Flash?"

"Considering it's that or the bus…"

"You took the bus here?" Roy asked.

Dick blinked, brow crinkling in something approaching confusion. "I'm not taking my bike out in this. Blizzard of the century, remember?"

Roy shrugged. "Don't act surprised _now_ if I suggest you've got a death wish."

A clatter from the end of the counter cut off Dick's probably indignant response as Mia let the hatch fall back into place behind her. She crossed to their end and punched Roy in the shoulder, still not acknowledging Wally's presence, although she did nod to Dick.

"Hey, do you want to stop flirting and get back to work?"

"I wasn't-" Roy objected, but Mia was already drawing coffee cups out from under the counter.

She paused, setting the cups down with a clink. "You weren't what? Working? I can see that."

" _Flirting_."

Garth let out a snort of laughter. "Donna's not even here yet." Roy moved to flip him off, the gesture aborted when Mia smacked his hand and pointed at the two cups she'd set on the counter.

"Table three wants a flat white and a hot chocolate. Hop to it."

Roy scowled at her. "You're perfectly capable of making drinks yourself. I should know, I was the one who had to do your training."

Mia shrugged, already walking off to the kitchen. "Yeah, but you're not paying me." She didn't glance back as the door swung and settled in place.

Roy was still scowling at her back, but he turned to start working on the order. Wally felt laughter bubbling up through his chest and bit his lip to hold it back. "Glad to see it's not just me she hates," he said.

The machine whirred briefly, dripping coffee into one of the cups as Roy turned and rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I think Ollie just hired her to make my life miserable."

"Well, we could stop distracting you," Dick said, tapping his ankle against Wally's own again, and adding, "Or we could go pick up an even worse distraction."

Wally tipped back another mouthful of mocha and set his cup down, untwisting his ankle from Dick's so he could stand without kicking him. "Alright," he said, "We'll be back in a _flash_." Roy groaned, letting his head fall against the top of the coffee machine. "Garth you in?"

"Nah." Garth swiped Wally's not-quite-finished coffee. He almost objected, but figured if Roy followed through on making Garth pay for it he was entitled to the syrupy dregs. "I'll stay here with Roy. You two have fun." His mouth twisted up into a smirk at the end and he glanced past Wally - a brief check of Dick's attention, or lack of it - before adding a wink for good measure. Wally had hoped he'd been let off the hook when Dick had arrived, but apparently Garth was not going to let his hopeless pining slide entirely.

Wally nearly did object at that, was ready to attempt a subtle punch to Garth's leg, but pulled up short at the sound of Dick's boots hitting the lino floor, and the warmth of Dick's hand slipping into the crook of his elbow.

"Come on," Dick said, "Let's go get our wayward wonder."

Wally let it go, with one final narrowed look in Garth's direction, because it was the season of forgiveness, or because Garth had paid for his coffee, or because maybe he had a point.

They walked out from Speedy's, Wally pulling his coat tight around him as the door closed and sealed away the warmth inside. The sky was already dimming, between the late afternoon sun dipping towards the horizon and the clouds heavy overhead with the threat that the snowstorms could continue.

The snow crunched loudly beneath their boots, crisper than it had been earlier, a result of the drop in temperature with the approaching evening.

"We should get Donna before she freezes out there," Wally said, as they reached Flash. He pulled the driver side door open and noted the frost already creeping across the metal panels in swirls of ice. "Do you have more information than just _taking pictures_ or is this a search and rescue operation?"

Dick settled easily into the passenger seat, blowing warm air against his fingers before diving them into his pocket and pulling out his cell. "Well she hasn't responded yet, so she's probably somewhere with bad signal, but it's got to be somewhere she could get the bus to _and_ somewhere with some nice snowscapes."

Wally rested his arms against the wheel and set his cheek on top of them so he could look at Dick, who was chewing his lip in thought. "Alright then detective, where am I going?"

"Birch point?"

Flash's tyres slipped a quarter turn before catching on the snow and ice spread across the parking lot. It was probably a bad idea to be driving up to Birch Point - set on back roads leading up towards the mountains that overlooked the town - especially if the clouds dumped another load of snow on them before they got back. The smart decision would be to trust Donna could make it back to the main road near the point and catch the bus back down to the valley. The smarter decision would have been to stay at Barry and Iris' and leave Speedy's for another day.

But Wally was only in town for a week and a half and wanted to squeeze every second with his friends from those days.

Dick leant forward, cracking open the glove box as Wally pulled out of the parking lot. He half watched from the corner of his eye as Dick rummaged around and with a triumphant _ha_ and a clatter of plastic casing pulled a cassette from the compartment.

"I _knew_ you still had our old mix tapes," he said, flipping open the case and twisting a finger in the spindle almost absentmindedly.

Wally resisted the urge to swat his hand away, the words _you'll stretch the tape_ set on the tip of his tongue. No stretching or twisting could really do any more damage than playing it a hundred times already had. "Dude," he said, turning to grin at his best friend before setting his eyes back on the road, "Like I'd throw them out."

"Dude," Dick parroted. Wally had a feeling he was being mocked a split second before Dick added, "You're such a sap."

It was a fair observation, especially when Dick fed the cassette into the tape player and it crackled for a few seconds before playing a muffled version of _I Want It That Way_ ; so worn out it sounded like it was being played through a wall. The non-sappy thing to do would have been to throw it out and replace it with something else, but the tapes were a remnant of early teenagehood, and _Dick_ , and he'd sort of gotten used to the muted songs.

"You know," Dick said, when turning the volume dial did nothing to counter the through-a-wall sound, "You could invest in a new radio system, install a CD player. Give the old girl an _upgrade_."

Wally's sharp gasp was only partially played up for Dick's laughter. "How could you suggest Flash is anything less than perfect." He twisted his hands against the worn faux-leather of the steering wheel as though to reassure himself, or the truck, of her worth. "Besides, it's not like we can re-rip Backstreet Boys from the radio to a CD."

"We could also give your music taste an upgrade."

They pulled to a stop at a red light, giving Wally the opportunity to turn and glare at Dick. "Okay, it's official, you are no longer my fire."

The statement did nothing to lessen the grin on Dick's face. "Or your one desire?"

Wally turned back to the road a little too sharply, the question a little too close to truth. "Right, you understand." It was another miss at the nonchalance he'd been aiming for, but he argued to himself that he hadn't seen Dick for months and his brain was fried from the diverted plane and extra-long drive and maybe, just maybe, if he was obvious enough Dick would say something and he'd avoid having to come up with any kind of plan.

The light switched to green and he drove, wrapped up in his thoughts in the quiet of the car as Backstreet Boys gave way to TLC until Dick said, "Wally."

And Wally ignored him.

" _Wally_ ," Dick said again, letting a whine creep into his voice. Wally didn't let it work.

"My best friend, whom I love dearly." Wally bit back the smile threatening to spread across his face.

"My co-pilot, the Chewie to my Han."

"Technically, this is my car. I'm fairly sure that makes me Han." Wally glanced across at Dick to find him still grinning. If anything his smile looked brighter and wider than before.

"I think that actually makes you Lando."

Wally rolled his eyes, but he stopped fighting the smile. "Did you want something, R2 to my Luke?"

"Beep boop," Dick said. He kicked his feet up against the dashboard and Wally made a brief sound of distress - because there was still a dust of white clinging to the soles and that meant there would be a snowmelt puddle on his dashboard later - but it was an action so familiar he couldn't bring himself to object any further. "That means: you missed the turning."

Dick's laughter drowned out Wally's huffed sigh.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group go skating and Wally continues to fail at not being obviously enamoured with Dick.

The clouds didn't dissipate easily, even when a few broke apart to send more flurries of snow over the top of what had already fallen - churned to slush by feet and cars and refrozen into slick ice. Barry looked vaguely concerned every time Wally left the house but Flash had heavy tread tyres for a reason and there were traditions that he would not put aside even if the blizzard returned in force.

They weren't the only group who made the trip further down the valley to find the spots where water ran off the mountains into a series of lakes covered in thick ice. Several of the roadside spaces - worn dirt patches in summer, now turned to packed snow - held a handful of cars.

Flash bumped over the curb of snow, crushing tire tracks from the road to the verge, although the difference was hard to notice with the flat grey light that diffused through the clouds and diluted the shadows of the shifting snow piles.

Wally focused on the ground underfoot as he climbed from the cab, feeling the lingering ice beneath the powder of the most recent snowfall. He heard the echo of his own slammed door as Dick descended from the other side of the truck.

"You know," Dick said, leaning against the hood with his skates already draped around his neck. Wally opened the back to fetch his own well-worn pair as he continued, "I'm starting to question whether you're as smart as you would have us believe."

"Big talk from someone who's already come this far with me." Wally hung his skates over his shoulder and leant back against the door with an eye on the road and the familiar red Honda pulling along it, paint partially hidden behind a splattered combination of snow and ice and grit.

"Hey, I never said I was smart. I'm the college dropout." Wally listened to the shift and crunch of snow under Dick's boots, mapped Dick's movement around the front of Flash to stand next to him. "And according to Roy I have a death wish anyway."

Wally nudged him with an elbow, turning from watching Roy's car as it bumped over the snow bank curb and focusing on Dick instead. "No-one's fallen into the lake yet. Don't be such a pessimist."

The Honda sank a little into the snow, shifting on its suspension as the rest of their group climbed out in a flurry of activity and slammed doors.

"You sure Red can make the return journey?" Wally called out as Roy shut the trunk with a loud creak.

He snorted in response. "I'd take the risk over getting in anything you're driving."

"Hey, I'm a great driver!" Wally nudged Dick again. "Dick, tell him I'm a great driver."

"Because Dick has a trustworthy opinion on people's driving skills," Garth said, leaning one elbow against the roof of the car and grinning in their direction.

"Donna?"

Donna paused from where she was pulling out a few pieces of camera equipment from the back seat. She ducked her head. "No comment."

Wally slumped back against Flash with a huff. "Ouch."

His wounded pride was soothed by Dick, hooking an arm through his and leaning close into his space. "Ignore them. We'll have more fun on our own anyway."

Roy choked out a laugh. "Is that supposed to convince us that you aren't blowing him?"

His smirk was challenging and Wally could feel the increased tension in the way Dick's arm tightened around his own, the hitch in the shoulder pressed against his. He took half a step forward, intent on saying something - because he was fairly sure it was against the rules to make Dick uncomfortable in the name of making fun of him - only for Donna to get there first, shoving a tripod at Roy with enough force that his foot slipped against the snow and he had to take a step to stay upright.

"Carry that for me?" she said, "And try not to get yourself punched. It's expensive."

"Right," Roy said, his full attention on Donna in a wide-eyed second. Dick relaxed with a barely contained snicker, shoulder shaking against Wally, but refrained from making a comment about how obviously flustered Roy was from Donna pushing him around - evidenced by the rising blush that probably couldn't be explained away by the cold air.

Wally didn't say anything either, far too aware he didn't have room to judge Roy, especially when Dick tugged at his arm a little, directing him to the track that led down to the lakes and he followed without resistance.

Away from the road and in amongst the trees the snow was fresher, where it had fallen, having avoided the churning and refreezing of the town, and there were patches of bare earth around trunks and roots. The group picked their way downhill, the crack of pine needles underfoot and prints left in snow patches marking their passing until the treeline broke and a plain of frozen ice spread out before them.

There were half a dozen skaters visible, as well as a couple with a thick furred dog who bounded along the snowy shoreline kicking up clouds of powder. Wally grinned to himself at the sight, then dug the toe of his boot into the snow he was standing on and jerked it sideways, a spray of snow splattering against the leg of Dick's jeans.

He thought it might have been a bad idea when Dick turned with a wicked smile on his face, but wasn't quick enough to get out of the way of the scooped handful of snow stuffed down the back of his jacket. The skates over his shoulder clacked together as he spun, gasping at the cold. He let them drop to the ground in favour of lunging after Dick, catching him around the waist and dragging him down into the snow. Dick's laughter was cut off by his yelp before he brought his knee up against Wally's stomach and shoved another handful of snow in his face.

Wally spluttered, but retaliated in kind, with Dick pressed below him and unable to escape a fistful of snow smeared across his nose and down over his lips. His eyes were shining brightly with laughter even as he squawked and pushed at Wally's shoulders and Wally couldn't stop himself from gentling his touch to something like a caress, so caught up in Dick beneath him, breathless and smiling.

"Come on lovebirds," Garth said, kicking up more snow as he stepped over their legs, shoving gently at Wally's back.

Wally pulled back sharply, thanking the cold and exertion for his already red cheeks because he was sure he would have blushed at the comment, at being caught in a moment so obvious. He pushed up to his knees, then his feet, and held a hand out for Dick. "Call it a tie?" he suggested.

Dick pulled himself upright with ease and grace, despite the thick layers of his coat and the snow underneath his feet. "As long as you buy me a hot chocolate later. To make up for the attempt at giving me hypothermia."

"Deal."

Wally scooped his skates up from the pile of snow they'd landed in and made a sound of distress as a cascade of white spilled out of the boot. In hindsight, throwing them into a snowbank had probably been a bad idea. He trailed behind the others as they took seats around a picnic bench - a beautiful lunch spot in summer, damp with melted snow and moss in winter - and started swapping out boots for skates.

Except for Donna, who was setting up her camera, skates forgotten at the table leg. Wally sat down next to her and attempted to clear some of the snow from where it had gathered in the heel of his skate.

He watched as Dick and Roy picked their way down the last of the bank and onto the ice, snow soaking through his glove and up from the cuff of his jacket. He huffed briefly at the realisation that he wasn't going to be able to avoid ending up with a wet foot. He could hear the shutter click of Donna taking pictures next to him.

"Are you planning on joining us?" he asked, starting at his laces.

Garth, finished with his own skates, followed after Dick and Roy, an arm around each of their shoulders on the lake. Donna took another picture and when Wally paused in the process of shoving his dry foot into the snowy skate to look over at her she was smiling fondly.

"I will do," she said, "But I want to document this first."

Wally set his elbows on the table behind him and watched as Dick span easily on the ice and as Roy tried to copy his movements and stumbled, shoving at Garth when he laughed. "I've really missed this," he said, "All of you."

Donna nudged him. "Sap," she accused, although it was without any malice. "Now get out there so I can take some photos of you and Dick being cutesy."

He leant forward and buried a groan against his knees as he resumed lacing up his skates. "What was that about trying to _not_ get punched when holding expensive equipment?"

"Dick's not here to require his honour defending," she said. When Wally sat upright with his skates secure she was grinning at him. "And I'm not as punchable as Roy."

"This coming from the person with a crush on him." Wally pushed himself upright to follow the others down the bank. "Although I think he might be into that." He wasn't overly surprised when Donna kicked up more snow at him.

He made his way down the bank cautiously, blades catching against the earth under the snow until there was ice beneath him. Dick caught sight of his slow testing pushes, carving through the thin blanket of snow overlaying the lake and skated towards him, stopping with an easy turn and setting a hand on Wally's shoulder.

"What took you so long?" he asked, sliding the hand down against Wally's arm and slowly pulling him further out onto the ice, perfect balance even whilst skating backwards.

"I was speaking with our resident photographer."

"Oh?"

Wally bit his lip and shifted his arm so he could take Dick's hand in his own, trying to focus on his feet and not the little thrill when Dick didn't pull back any further and just twisted their fingers together. "She wanted to get some photos of the two of us. I assume because we're the best looking. Highly marketable."

Dick laughed, then stopped suddenly, letting Wally almost collide into him. "Well, we already knew that."

Wally leant forward, noses level and inches apart, and considered that from the shore they might look _cutesy_. "No offense to Garth and Roy, of course," he said in a stage whisper, "But we are pretty hot."

A bump at his back sent him crashing the rest of the way forward and he reeled in an attempt to not headbutt Dick, sliding backwards and only being prevented from falling flat on his ass by Dick grabbing him, both hands around his waist, taking his entire bodyweight.

His impression of a swooning maiden was not helped by the Dick essentially lifting him back upright. Wally had, for the most part, been ignorant of just how strong Dick had become - the lean muscles of his gymnastic youth belying the power they held - and was maybe a little weak-kneed at the prospect. Until the moment was ruined by Roy bursting into snickering behind him and setting both hands on his shoulders, grounding him from fantasizing about Dick lifting him in other circumstances.

"Come on, Bambi," Roy said, with an audible grin, "Get your feet under you and give me a race."

"I'm not sure this is fair," Wally complained, shrugging off Roy's hands and shifting sideways to get some distance from Dick, "I haven't been on the ice in a year. I'm a beach guy now."

"Okay _beach boy_ , you're still taking part."

Wally thought Donna might have a good point about Roy's punchable nature, but he allowed himself to be guided to the impromptu starting line anyway. He hoped the college months - trading mountain snow and ice for southern sand and runs alongside ocean spray - hadn't rendered him incapable of keeping pace, especially given that Dick and Roy had clearly found time to get some practice in.

He hoped it was like riding a bike, or finding the one seat at Speedy's that wasn't lumpy. Second nature, right up until the point when it wasn't, and the pick of his skate caught against an uneven section of ice and sent him sprawling forward.

His knee hit the ice first, slamming hard enough that a ringing echoed through the ice and reverberated around them for a second. There was a spray of ice and snow as Roy pulled a sharp stop next to him and stayed upright.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, crouching to get a hand under Wally's shoulder and help him get some space between his face and the ice.

Wally managed to get to his hands and knees and winced as he put pressure on the one that had gone down so hard. "Ouch," he said.

He squeezed his eyes shut briefly against the pain and took a deep breath. When he opened them again there were more pairs of skates, enough to provide evidence Donna had made it onto the ice as well.

"Wally," Dick said, dropping into a crouch in front of Wally's face. His own was pulled into a frown and lined with concern. His hands hovered somewhere around Wally's shoulders, like he wanted to comfort but didn't know the best way to go about it, or where Wally was hurting.

Wally attempted a smile, although he was fairly sure it came out somewhere closer to a grimace. "I'm fine," he said, "Just hit my knee pretty hard."

One of Dick's hands was against his cheek a second later, the gentle touch clearing away the spray of snow from his fall. Wally hadn't noticed the sting underneath it until Dick's gloved thumb brushed against a spot and he winced again, the fabric pulling against raw skin. "Looks like you got your face a little too," Dick said, voice barely more than a murmur, the sweep of his thumb gentling even further.

"I had a craving for snow cones."

Dick's laugh chased away some of the frown lines. "Well next time _say_ _something_ , don't just try and give me a heart attack."

"Come on." Roy patted his shoulder gently. "Let's get you upright."

For the second time that afternoon Wally found most of his weight being lifted up by Dick, although it still wasn't the scenario he'd been hoping for, and was a little less heart-flutter-inducing when counteracted by the pulsing ache in his knee. "Ouch," he said again, upright and leaning heavily between Dick and Roy to avoid putting too much weight on his bad leg.

Garth watched him, eyes trained on his shifting weight, as Donna chewed her lip beside him. "We should get you off the ice," she suggested, "And maybe to a doctor."

"It's fine," Wally said, gently testing the bend and stretch of his leg. "I don't think I broke anything."

Dick made a concerned sound next to him. "Super reassuring."

The trip back over the ice was slow and cautious and far removed from their attempts at racing. Wally mostly hopped up the bank, their combined weight digging grooves into the snow and their skates lifting with dirt along blades. He sank against the bench and prodded at his kneecap - sore and swollen, but seemingly all in place.

"Yeah," he said, "Doesn't feel broken."

"Last I checked you weren't a medical professional," Donna said.

Dick sat down on the bench next to him, his warmth a tangible thing even through the layers of sweater and coat. "Stop poking it," he said, one hand resting on Wally's wrist. Wally didn't think twice about complying, hand falling to rest in Dick's grip.

"It's fine, guys, stop fussing." He twisted to scoop a handful of snow from the table and set that against his knee instead. The cold shocked and then soothed, water slowly seeping into his jeans and numbing his skin. "I'll be good to go again in ten minutes, go enjoy yourselves."

There was a brief series of exchanged glances before Donna sighed. "Alright, but if you need anything, shout. And if it _doesn't_ get better Roy's taking you to the hospital."

Wally lifted two fingers in a salute. "Yes ma'am."

She rolled her eyes, a puff of laughter curling out in steam in front of her. "Come on then," she said, sliding a hand around Roy's elbow and pulling him slowly back onto the ice.

Dick stayed sitting, pressed closer against Wally's side. "I'll stay," he said, voice low with sincerity or concern or _something_. Wally bit his lip and thought about his attempts to be a little more casual, a little less _obvious_.

He nudged Dick with his shoulder. "Go have fun," he said, "Honestly, I don't need you babysitting me."

"That's not-" Dick started, cutting himself off with a frown. He glanced across at Wally then back out at the lake, frown deepening further. "Okay, then." He pushed himself off the bench and followed after Donna and Roy, brushing past Garth who was watching the two of them with an inscrutable expression. "Come on," Dick said to him, "Wally clearly doesn't want us _babysitting_." His tone was harsh and hurt. Wally almost called out, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was Dick was upset about and didn't want to make it worse.

"Yeah," Garth said, eyes still on Wally, "I'll be along in a minute."

Dick shrugged, and didn't look back at Wally as he skated out after their other friends. The action felt cold, and Wally was still puzzling over it as Garth approached, sinking into the seat Dick had left.

"What was _that_?" he asked.

Wally blinked. "I don't know. I wasn't trying to upset him."

Garth was silent for a long moment, then he exhaled in a long sigh. "You really are clueless when it comes to romance, huh?"

The question made Wally hunch in on himself. It was what he'd been trying to avoid, and what was inevitably going to ruin their entire friendship, one of the most important relationships in his life - his inability to spend time with Dick without falling harder for him. "I'm trying to not be some love-struck idiot pining after Dick, okay?" His own words came out rough with the anger he felt at himself. "I just don't know how to balance it with still being his best friend."

"Maybe that's not the problem here." Wally turned to look at Garth instead of Dick's retreating figure, carving circles on the icy lake.

"Something you want to share?"

Garth hummed. "Look, you've watched a rom com with Dick at some point, right?"

Wally frowned, uncertain. "Sure," he said slowly.

"And you know how he always cries at the big reveal because he's not-so-secretly a hopeless romantic."

Wally smiled, because he couldn't not think about Dick curled up next to him, sniffling whilst they watched _The Holiday_ and then shoving a cushion at Wally's face and telling him to _"stop judging"_. Because he was even more hopeless than Dick.

"If you're suggesting I run after him at an airport I might remind you that I'm the one catching a plane next week."

Garth shoved his shoulder. "What I'm _suggesting_ is that maybe Dick is hoping for someone a bit love-struck, and that maybe trying to play it cool, or whatever, by pushing him away when he wants to spend time with you is not a great plan."

"Except that it might be the only thing to save our friendship. Dick isn't interested."

"Are you sure about that?"

Wally stared at the slow spreading soak of melting snow around his knee, frowning at the darkened denim as he tried to figure if Garth - and Roy and Donna, for all their teasing - were onto something. If there was a possibility of reciprocation. It seemed unreal that someone like Dick could be interested in someone like him. Except… except they were best friends, and Dick clearly cared about him to some degree, and laughed at his jokes when no one else would, and fit into his life curled up in the passenger seat of his truck listening to old cassettes.

Garth chuckled. "I'll tell him you changed your mind and are lost and alone without him."

Wally shoved him but it didn't stop the laughter, or the lightness Wally felt at the idea that maybe things could work out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally and Dick head for a drive and a possibly overdue talk

When Wally woke up he was disoriented, unsure where he was, aching, and cold everywhere except his chest, which was pressed against something warm. He curled around it instinctively and it made a familiar grumbling sound. He pried open his eyes to check, in the darkness of the room, and found Dick's head resting against his collarbone, face hidden behind a mop of hair.

He turned his head and took slow stock of the rest of the room: a heap of blankets that looked like it might contain Garth on the floor, the TV with a slowly shifting "no signal" message, the crick in his neck where it was pressed at an uncomfortable angle against a checked armrest, the pattern of the fabric no doubt imprinted on his cheek.

Enough information finally filtered through his half-asleep brain to let him know he was in Roy's living room, that Dick was asleep on him because he'd slumped there about twenty minutes into _Home Alone 2_ and no one had even suggested moving him. He wasn't sure entirely when he'd fallen asleep, or how he'd made it to a mostly horizontal position, but he didn't remember _Home Alone 3_ at all.

There was a blanket hooked around his foot, halfway to falling off the couch and in danger of joining the heap on the floor rather than protecting the stretch of his spine where his t-shirt had ridden up - helped in part by Dick's hand curled into the fabric across his chest and pulling slightly.

Wally shifted slowly, attempting to manoeuvre the blanket back up to somewhere he could pull it over the both of them without waking Dick up. He failed on both counts when the blanket slipped off the couch completely and he jolted to grab it, dislodging his best friend's head.

"Stop squirming," Dick said, words slurred and rough with sleep.

"Sorry," Wally said, but he had the blanket in his hand now and tucked it over them both, shifting a little lower in the seat so his neck wasn't at an awkward angle.

Dick made another grumbling noise, probably because the shifting constituted as _squirming_ , especially when Wally kicked against the other end of the couch and cursed lightly. There was a point in time where this would have been comfortable. At thirteen, maybe, before Dick had reached any kind of puberty and Wally was only just hitting his growth spurt and they were small enough to curl up on a couch together and call it spacious.

Their knees knocked together and Wally hissed a sharp breath because his was still sore and bruised from falling, mottled purple and not taking kindly to being hit. Dick pulled away and upright, leaning his back against the couch cushions, and in the faint glow of the TV's "no signal" text and the light creeping around the edges of the blinds that might have been dawn Wally caught his scowl; the expression bleary and ruffled and - in Wally's half-asleep and fully-smitten state - kind of adorable. "How about you let me know when you're done moving so I can lie back down without risking injury."

Wally huffed. "It's not my fault Roy doesn't own a couch big enough for two grown ass adults to sleep on."

"Well, if you want to swap..." The bundle of blankets on the floor shifted and Garth's face emerged, framed by a mess of hair. "Otherwise, keep it down. Some of us are trying to sleep."

Dick laughed, barely more than a snicker falling past his lips, but it set Wally off and they curled together trying to keep their giggles quiet, as though Garth's morning grumpiness was the funniest thing in the world. Finally Wally tipped his head back with a sigh. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Too early," Garth complained from the floor.

"Sure." Wally shuffled his shoulders against the cushions in some fruitless attempt to rearrange the springs within that were digging into his spine. "But I'm awake now."

Dick groaned. "So go back to sleep." As if to prove his point he settled back down against Wally's chest and hooked a leg around Wally's own, anchoring him to the couch and Dick's body in equal measure. It was cosy, and far too intimate, and Wally flexed his fingers to fight off the urge to push them under Dick's shirt and pull him closer still.

It wasn't exactly restful, and after a few minutes of tense and shallow breaths Dick huffed against his collarbone. "You're not sleeping," he murmured.

"Neither are you." Wally tried to keep his voice quiet, but his attempts amounted to little when Garth pushed upright from the carpet, blankets falling away with an annoyed sigh.

"Alright, that's it." He stretched out and stood slowly, his shadow side stepping the coffee table and coming to a stop about level with Wally's head, only the arm of the couch a barrier to whatever punishment he felt Wally was deserving of.

Wally tensed, but couldn't easily move away with Dick curled up against him on one side and empty air on the other. Garth clambered over the armrest and shoved into the space between Dick and the couch back - a tight fit for two adults and an impossible fit for three. Wally had nowhere to go but the floor, and Dick, tangled up with him as he was, went down too.

Garth settled against the couch cushions, knees bent and toes digging into the armrest at the other end. "If you can't keep quiet go bother Roy and Donna," he said, throwing an arm across his face.

Dick made a slightly pained noise, which Wally felt was a little gratuitous given that _he'd_ been the one who'd landed on his back and taken the weight of their fall. "I guess we're taking the floor." He smiled down at Wally, something small and quick and Wally felt his control sliding.

"We should go get breakfast," he said, because he wasn't sure he wouldn't kiss Dick if he didn't find something else to do.

"Breakfast?" Dick asked. He blinked a couple of times. "Wally, it's like five a.m."

Wally tipped his head towards the window, the pale morning light something even more tangible now. "It's got to be at least seven." He set an arm around Dick's waist. "Come on, Speedy's'll be open."

Dick still looked incredulous. "I think I'd rather get more sleep."

" _Please_."

"Just go," Garth said, voice muffled by the arm resting across his face, "You know he'll pout otherwise and I don't want to have to deal with that."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Fine. But you're paying."

There'd been another fall of snow overnight, possibly a final one, judging from the blue skies high above them when they finally found enough clothes to stumble out of Roy's apartment without risking frostbite. Wally still wasn't sure what time it was, but it was early enough that the streets were empty and there were only a few footprints and tyre treads disrupting the perfect blanket of white settled over the world.

He took a deep breath of the cold air and grinned across at Dick, an idea forming. Dick ignored his smile in favour of climbing into Flash and pulling the coat he was wearing - one Wally was fairly sure belonged to Roy, a little too bulky and a rough red material he thought he'd seen on the other man - tighter around himself.

He was pulling cassettes from the glove box again when Wally finished brushing the snow off of the windows and climbed in after him, squinting at the handwritten numbers and names scrawled across each label and setting them back until he found the one he'd apparently been looking for.

There was a click and rattle of changing tapes as the engine sputtered to life and Wally slowly pulled away from the curb, the soft quiet of the fresh snow in the morning sun disrupted only by a not-quite-as-muted version of Sixpence None the Richer. Wally glanced sideways at Dick, humming _Kiss Me_ under his breath with his feet up on the dashboard, and wondered if it was a deliberate choice. Or at least if it was deliberate in the way Wally was hoping; the rummaging was enough to show Dick had made a choice, but bore no hint as to his reasons.

Dick paused in the second verse and cleared his throat. "You're going the wrong way again," he said, "Have you really forgotten where our primary hangout spot is located?"

Wally shrugged. "Just trust me on this one."

Dick sank lower in the passenger seat and closed his eyes with a heavy exhale. "Fine. Wake me when we get to wherever it is you're kidnapping me to." The steady tap of his fingers against his leg and the continued humming were evidence he hadn't fallen asleep, but they faded into the background, under the rev of Flash's engine, as Wally pulled further along the backroads and towards his destination.

"Hey," he said as the truck rattled over the lumps of snow and dips of gravel that made up the parking spots of Birch Point, "We're here."

"A long way from breakfast, Walls."

Wally rolled his eyes, twisting so he could pull out the blankets stored in the back, neatly folded between bottles of water and a first aid kit because Iris had insisted on preparedness. "Again, trust me?"

"Hey, I trust you with my life, but if this is a plot to get me alone so you can murder me I feel I should remind you that Garth knows we left together."

"Well, it's a plot to get you _alone_." Wally flushed, but the whole point of this trip was to stop trying to play it cool and he judged from a stolen glance at Dick's expression - the curious spark in his eyes and the slight part of his lips - it wasn't unwelcome, even if it was unexpected. He shunted the cab door open with his foot and dropped onto the ground, thick woollen blankets in hand. One he spread over the hood, the metal a little damp from thawed frost and warm from the lingering heat of the engine underneath.

He set a boot against the bumper and scrambled up before motioning to Dick - watching from the passenger side door - to join him. He was far more elegant about it, hopping onto the hood with ease and settling against the side of Wally's body. Wally draped the second blanket around both their shoulders, cocooning them together against the cold.

"I can see why Donna likes it so much up here," he said, gaze directed towards the town stretched out beneath the edge of the outlook. The buildings sparkled, the light catching off the snow and masking imperfections, the distance smoothing the gaps the snow couldn't reach. The birch trees that gave the spot its name were bare, but framed the scene with pale trunks and spindly branches.

Dick's breath crystallised in the air between them as he pulled his knees up and rested his chin against them. "It is a beautiful view," he said.

There was a slight enough breeze to ruffle at his dark locks, and even with tired eyes and the coat that didn't quite fit his size or style Wally couldn't take his eyes off him. "Yeah," he said, "Best view in town."

Dick smiled against his knees and then tilted his head, clear blue eyes baring into Wally's own. "Is that the line you're going for?"

"I've got some others I could try."

"Are they all just as clichéd?"

There was something teasing in Dick's tone, and whilst the words weren't rejection, weren't pushing Wally aside, they felt a little too close to mocking. Wally looked away. "Forget-" His words were cut off by Dick's hand on his cheek, turning his face back and suddenly those blue eyes were impossibly close, Dick's breath warm against his lips.

And then Dick was kissing him, slow and gentle, leaning into him with one hand on his cheek and the other on the blanket beneath them, arm brushing close to Wally's side. Wally's own hands moved without his conscious input, sliding against Dick's thighs, attempting to pull him closer. Which was, of course, when he pulled away, still smiling and with a breathless chuckle.

He stroked Wally's cheek, over the healed graze from the skating accident and muttered, "Was that what you were hoping for?"

"Something like it," Wally said, just as quiet in the space between them. He leant his forehead against Dick's and let his eyes fall shut, basking in the warmth. "I guess I haven't been subtle about my intentions."

Dick's chuckle puffed against his lips. "You have been kind of obvious. And kind of oblivious."

Wally pulled back an inch. "Oblivious?"

"I've been trying to get you to kiss me for years."

Wally blinked, then blinked again. The idea that maybe they could have been doing this for _years_ was almost overwhelming. How long exactly? How long had he wanted Dick, and how long had Dick wanted him in return? He was struck with an image of a prom night, so different from the one they had, where he had Dick as his date instead of sharing awkward slow dances with Frances. One where they took Flash up to this same spot and kissed under the moonlight.

"You should have said something."

"You seemed so close to acting on it for so long, I didn't want to get in the way." Dick bit his lip briefly, looked down for a second. "I was also more than a little scared."

"I get that." Wally shifted, one leg dropping off the edge of Flash's hood, and he kicked some gathered snow away from the wheel arch. He couldn't quite look Dick in the eye. "I'm still more than a little scared. I- You're one of my best friends, Dick."

Dick huffed out a laugh, flashed Wally a quick grin. "One of? You know Roy's not around to complain about you playing favourites right now."

The statement startled a laugh out of Wally in response. "Fine. You're my best friend." His smile faded and he leant his body so he could bump his shoulder against Dick's, the movement causing the blanket to flutter where it was drawn around them. "That's too important to screw up."

Dick's own smile fell away, his gaze turned back to the town past the edge of the trees and something like a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth instead. "What changed?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I just… if our friendship was too important to screw up then what makes it not a bad idea today? What makes it worth the risk?"

"Didn't think you'd be the one cautioning not taking the leap," Wally said. He sat forward so he could set a hand on Dick's spine, slide it around his waist between the coat and the blanket, pull Dick back across the distance of his anxieties. "Not when you already kissed me."

Dick made a low sound in his throat; choked off acknowledgement or a sign of distress. Wally barrelled on. "You know why college kind of sucks? Because I haven't seen you for months. I'm not about to drop out and move back home, but missing you, not being able to see you… it _sucks_. It's never going to not suck when I don't get to see you for months. Even if this doesn't work out, even if we have some kind of terrible, messy break up it's not going to stop that. I'm going to hear some dumb joke that made me smile and text it to you because you're probably the only other person who'd find it funny, or I'm going to be awake at seven in the morning and drag you out of Roy's house because apparently you're the only one who thinks I'm a good driver."

Dick leant back far enough to smile up at Wally, a small, private smirk that made his heart pound a little. "You're a passable driver," he said.

Wally laughed. "And you're a dick," he shot back. He leant in close to that smile and shivered as their noses brushed past each other. "But you're also my best friend. The forever kind."

Dick blushed, his smile losing the edge of teasing and falling into something familiar and fond. The way he'd looked a thousand times when it was just the two of them, or even the five of them, and he let his guard down enough to just be happy with his friends. Wally didn't think he could have avoided falling in love if he'd tried.

"Sap," Dick said.

Wally shrugged. "So people keep saying, but it seems to be working out."

"Yeah." Dick pushed up onto his knees, twisted round, and the familiarity of his smile was shattered when he straddled across Wally's lap with something more intense flashing in his eyes. "I'd say it is." The kiss wasn't a surprise, although it still left Wally breathless, the blanket around their shoulders falling away and Dick pushing Wally after it, forcing his back against the hood of the car with the pressure of his lips and tongue and hands.

Wally shuddered and surrendered and held Dick as tight as he could between the cold air and the chilling engine until his fingers and ears started to go numb and he tipped his head back to catch his breath.

"We should probably go get breakfast," he suggested.

Dick shook with laughter against him. "Are you really thinking about food right now?"

"Yeah, dude, I'm getting hungry. And cold"

Dick's laughter increased in intensity, ringing out between the trees. "Did you just call me dude? Whilst your hand is still on my ass?" When Wally's only response was a shrug he laughed harder, rolling off and leaning back against the blankets. "Sure, _dude_ ," he said, between bursts of giggles, "Let's go get breakfast."

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, hope you spend it with people you love.  
> 


End file.
